Gutzeit: Perhaps the Russians themselves will refuse the Olympics as a “goodwill gesture”

Minister warns IOC that Russia will use the Games as its own propaganda

Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, as well as the head of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine Vadim Gutzeit does not rule out that the Russians themselves will refuse to participate in Olympic Games 2024 in Paris.

“If Russian athletes take part in the Olympic Games, then Russian propagandists will try to turn this sports festival into a propaganda festival, as Hitler once did. I believe that the IOC will not allow the aggressors to do this. I also do not rule out that the Russians will make a “goodwill gesture” and say that they will not go.”

“I do not rule out that if Russians or Belarusians are allowed to the Olympics, and we boycott the competitions, then other countries that suffered from Russian imperialism at different stages of their history will join this boycott. The ball is now in the side of the International Olympic Committee.”

“Against the background of the explosion of Russian missiles and the firing of Russian machine guns, it is impossible to hear what individual Russians are saying. Stadiums can be rebuilt, infrastructure can be restored, but lives cannot be restored. War takes the best from us every day. More than 300 Ukrainian athletes and coaches died in this war.”

Earlier, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said that Ukraine, together with a coalition of 35 countries, would boycott the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris if Russia and Belarus were allowed to attend. Vadim Gutzeit noted that Ukrainian athletes will compete at the Olympics if Russians and Belarusians compete under neutral flags.

Initially, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine decided to boycott the qualifying tournaments for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, which would allow Russian and Belarusian athletes. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has already reacted to the decision of the Government of Ukraine to boycott the qualifying tournaments for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

It soon became known that Ukraine could refuse to boycott sports competitions, in which athletes of the aggressor country and the accomplice of terrorism, announced in the spring of 2023, take part. This decision may also apply to the 2024 Olympics.

The head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, said that decisions on the admission of athletes from Russia and Belarus to the Olympic Games in Paris should hardly be expected before the meeting of the executive committee of the organization, which will be held on October 15-17 in Mumbai. The functionary said that the IOC must be sure of the correctness of the decision.

In June, a representative of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe expressed the categorical position of his organization regarding the participation of athletes from a terrorist country and an accomplice of terrorism to the Olympic Games 2024.

The Paris Games will take place from 26 July to 11 August 2024.

Source: Sportarena

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